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'BJP erred in announcing Modi its campaign chief'

Bangalore, June 20, 2013, DHNS:

Collective leadership would work well for the party: Govindacharya

Former BJP ideologue K N Govindacharya on Thursday said the BJP should have taken a decision to face the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls under collective leadership and had erred by announcing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its campaign committee chairman.

“It was politically prudent for the BJP to have made price rise and blunders committed by the UPA government as its focus, ahead of facing the Lok Sabha polls. Today, it has put itself in a defensive position by announcing Modi’s name as the campaign committee chairman which amounts to projecting him as the party’s prime ministerial candidate,” Govindacharya told reporters in Bangalore.

The party’s action had resulted in losing one of its prime ally - the JD(U), Govindacharya pointed out and added that the BJP could not retain its political partner due to “lack of trust and dialogue.” He said collective leadership would have worked out better for the party in the polls rather than putting to test an individual leader’s capability.

“My perception is it is not the person, but policies which will matter. The BJP should have focussed on implementing their policies,” he said.

A long time associate of the RSS and later the BJP, Govindacharya was considered its chief ideologue and the brain behind several campaigns, including the Rama Janmabhoomi issue. He was the architect of the party’s 1998 Lok Sabha election manifesto. However, he quit the BJP in 2000 following differences with the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“Electoral reforms”

On the third front, Govindacharya said there is a need for “alternative politics” and not political alternative.

He said his organisation, the Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan, would strive to usher in electoral reforms in the country.

He said the Election Commission of India should identify and deregister “fake political parties” registered just for transference of black money, introduce “none of the above” option on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and also provide electronically generated receipts to voters to authenticate that their vote has been registered to the party they voted. To a query, Govindacharya said he has no intention of rejoining the BJP.

Parties under one banner

Later, at an event Govindacharya said that all like-minded small parties fighting against corruption would be brought under a single umbrella.

An all India conference will called in July to chalking out a direction for movement against corruption, he said.